I don't own the characters. I attach strings to them and shout, "Dance marionettes! Dance for my pleasure!"

"So this is the living room. Past that is the kitchen. You can use whatever you want. See those stairs? Second room on the left, is your room. You have your own bathroom and the towels are in the closet across the hall."

"Leah." Scarlett stopped her. "Thank you so much for all of this." She smiled. "I know it couldn't have been easy to accept a complete stranger into your home."

Leah stared at her for a minute before shrugging. "Thank my brother. He's the one who gave you a good recommendation."

Scarlett nodded. "I know. But it was still your decision and you said yes. I just want to thank you and let you know that I hope I can repay your kindness someday."

Leah nodded. "Sure. You need any help with your bags?"

"That would be great."

She looked surprised as Leah snapped her fingers in front of my face and told me to get to it. "We don't have all day." She snapped.

I chuckled and took the bags. "Yes ma'am."

"You don't have to-"

"You're injured." I gently reminded her. "I'm fine. I can handle three suitcases." I held out my arm, flexing my upper arm. "See these muscles?" I grinned. "These were made for carrying your stuff." Leah bent over, laughing hysterically. Scarlett began to giggle with her. I rolled my eyes. "Laugh it up."

"Oh believe me," Leah gasped. "I am. Wait until I tell the others about this."

"Don't you dare!"

Over the next week I took Scarlett out for a small tour around La Push. I showed her the cliffs (she seemed to be interested in cliff diving, much to my horror) the rec center and the beach. She seemed to love the beach more than anything. Every day we went down to the beach and I watched as she inhaled the salty air and gazed at the tide pools like they were artifacts from a museum.

It was fascinating watching her. She seemed to love everything about La Push which made me hopeful.

"So what do you do for a living, city girl?" I asked her at the end of that week.

She smiled. "I'm a magician."

I couldn't help but snort. She frowned. "Seriously? Like, pick a card, any card?" She rolled her eyes and rubbed her hands together before clapping and then cupping them. When she opened them, my wallet was sitting in her hands. I stared at her in shock before feeling around my pockets. True enough, my wallet was gone. "How did you–"

"It's called being a sleight-of-hand." She threw me my wallet. "Think of pick-pocketing, only with more skills and some props. I do illusions, transformation magic, escaping, and mentalism too." She grinned, her smile strangely reminded me of Collin in his wolf form when he was messing around. "I'm not some half-assed geek who wants to impress his friends."

I held my hands up as a sign of surrender. "I never said you were."

Scarlett smiled. I think my heart stopped beating. Or did it speed up? I could never tell when she was around. "I like it here."

I tried to snap out of it. "Huh?"

She giggled. "I said I like it here, in La Push." She closed her eyes and turned to the ocean to let the chilling wind play with her hair. "Everything is so colorful. It's not just an ocean of silver and white like San Francisco. It looks...alive somehow. You're very lucky to live here."

She had no idea how much my heart soared at those words. That meant she liked being here and that she wanted to live here. I decided to take a shot. "Then why don't you move here? I mean, since you like it and all. We'd love to have you." I couldn't help but add.

She looked back at me and smiled. It wasn't happy, but wistful. "I don't have a house." She explained. "All of my possessions are in three suitcases and a carry-on." She kicked at the rocks. "I've lived in hotel rooms, Rvs, and tour buses, but I've never had a permanent address. I live life by my tour schedule. If I'm not practicing my tricks for my next show then I'm hiring and firing assistants or doing a meet-and-greet with fans." She smiled sadly. "Living my life like that is really all I've ever known. Yes, La Push is unbelievably beautiful, but I can't settle down yet."

"What about a house?" I was getting desperate. "You could store all of your stuff there. You wouldn't need to take so many suitcases."

Scarlett laughed. "Houses are expensive, Seth. Besides, I would be gone for months, sometimes even years at a time. Why would I need a house?"

"To call somewhere home." I mumbled. "Somewhere to come back to." She stayed silent and kept staring at the sea. I sighed and changed the subject. "So have you ever been to a bonfire?"

That seemed to catch her attention. "No. Why? Are they fun?"

I nodded. "We have the most awesome bonfires here. We use the wood from the beach and it turns the fire blue because of all the salt. Emily makes this awesome barbecue that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Then we tell scary tribal stories."

Scarlett giggled and I grinned because I swear, I will never tire of that sound. "Sounds like a lot of fun."

I nodded again. "It is. And there's supposed to be one tonight in honor of you being here."

She looked surprised. "Me? Why?"

I shrugged. "We don't really get a lot of tourists or visitors here, so we tend to use that as an excuse to party. Everyone is excited to meet you. So will you come?"

She gave me a wry look. "I'll have to check my schedule." She giggled at my pout. "Yes, I'll go to the bonfire tonight."

I let out a whoop and hugged her before twirling her around in the air. She let out a startled scream and then a huge laugh as she stopped struggling and let herself be twirled.

I could hear Scarlett's heartbeat going faster and faster as we got closer to La Push beach. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon awhile ago, but I knew the pack wouldn't mind if we were a little late. They probably thought we were doing a little more than just talking.

I chuckled before reaching for her hand and wrapping mine around it. If she minded, she gave no notice. "Are you nervous?"

"Yes." She responded without hesitation. "I hate meeting new people. Large crowds, especially when I have to socialize, scare me."

"What about the audience at one of your shows?"

"I only have to interact with them when I'm on stage. I get a good distance and I don't have to look anyone in the eye. Volunteers come up on stage in ones which makes them easier to deal with. I only have five assistants at a time, but even that is stretching it."

I furrowed my brow. "We don't have to go if you don't want to. The others will understand."

Scarlett bit her lip (which was really not helping my case because her lips were painted red tonight and it made her face look a little too appealing which was really not helping me–) and shrugged. "I can put up with it for one night." She smiled at me. "After all you've done for me, this really is the least I could do."

"Scarlett," I said seriously. "I don't want you to do this because you feel like you owe me. I want you to meet the people who I consider my family because you are my friend. If you really don't want to do this, I will call my sister right now and we will do something else. We can go back to my house and order a pizza or go see a movie in Seattle. Whatever you want."

She exhaled. "No, it's okay." She smiled at me again. "I really do want to meet the rest of your family."

That was music to my ears. "Then what are we waiting for?"

We were halfway across the beach and already I could smell Emily's meat on the grill, which was mouthwatering as usual. I could see Jacob chasing Nessie and Claire around the beach while Quil watched carefully. Some of the other boys were playing football while their imprints watched from the sidelines. The older members sat in beach chairs around the blue bonfire. Emily was standing off to the side, grilling the meat on a giant grill, with Sam and Embry watching (with Sam watching Emily and Embry watching the meat).

To my surprise the Cullens were among small groups of my pack. Alice, Emmett, and Edward were playing football while Rosalie and Jasper watched with the imprints. Carlisle was discussing something with Sam while Esme helped Emily with the meat and Bella was sitting beside Quil.

Scarlett gasped when she saw how many people were there. I could feel her pinch herself before taking slow and steady breaths. "I can do this." She whispered to herself. "They're just people." She nudged my shoulder, pointed to the Cullens, and whispered, "Is there any reason why they all look insanely beautiful and so much alike?"

I chuckled and whispered back, "Magic."

She gave me a dry look, letting me know that my joke was flat. "I'm serious. Plastic surgery isn't even that awesome. What's their secret? Eternal youth? Life blood?" She paused. "Are they vampires?"

I could tell that everyone who could hear wanted to either laugh or hiss. I saw Rosalie whip her head towards Scarlett with something between a snarl and a frown. I laughed to cut the tension. "You're really funny, you know that?" I grabbed her hand before she said anything else that put both our lives in danger. "Let's go meet everyone."

Alice (obviously ignoring what Scarlett just said) abandoned the football game in favor of skipping over to us. "Seth!" She glomped me with a hug before hopping off me and examining my imprint. "Who is this?"

Alice being Alice probably knew, but I figured she was asking to be polite. "This is Scarlett. Scarlett, this is Alice Cullen, the daughter of Carlisle Cullen."

Scarlett held out a hand. "A pleasure." Again, if she was weirded out by the change in temperature she gave no change in expression. "Are you guys really apart of the tribe?"

Alice smiled and shook her head. "No. We're just old family friends." She grabbed Scarlett's hand and gently tugged. "C'mon. Lets go meet everyone."

By the time the sun has passed and all the wolves were full (which really says something about Emily and Esme's cooking) she had fully relaxed, joking around with my pack and surprising everyone with her magic. Her tricks were a real hit tonight. The Cullens were amazed by her abilities, even unable to tell how she did most of her tricks. She offered a thousand dollars to anyone who could figure out how she captured a fireball in her hands and held it before tossing it in the ocean. Nobody figured it out (even Edward was stumped) and she got to keep her money.

Claire fell in love with Scarlett. The older girl taught her how to take a quarter from people's ears and she fell as hard as she did with Quil. Wouldn't stop following her around and everything. Naturally this gave Scarlett Quil's approval. Jake and Jared were fascinated by her knowledge of cars and whenever she caught a breath they would startle her by asking her about some random car fact.

Edward found me as I watched Scarlett walk down the beach with a cheerful Bella by her side. "I'm happy for you man." He nodded towards the girls. "Her mind is incredibly intellectual and almost philosophical. Especially when she does her magic tricks. She likes it here. It was nothing like this when she was growing up."

"Thanks Edward. That actually means a lot." It really did. I was close to all the Cullens, but Edward and I had a special bond. He and Bella were like older siblings to me. Knowing that I had his approval meant more to me than he knew. "Any chance you could tell me if she liked me back?"

He grinned. "Not a chance. I can tell you that she likes you more than you might think."

I groaned. "Nothing is ever easy, is it?"

He patted my back. "Nothing would ever be worth much if everything was easy."

I sighed. "I've only managed to invade her friend zone and now I can't budge. What do I do?"

"I can't really say what will make her like you more." I groaned again. "I can say that you need to be patient. Her wanderlust is a lot worse than it appears. If she starts to talk about leaving, distract her."

"Thanks." I looked back at the laughing girls. "Are relationships always this hard?"

He laughed so hard he shook the log we were sitting on.

Scarlett sighed happily as she hopped into my car. "That was fun. Are they always that welcoming?"

I chuckled. "You have no idea."

She hummed. She leaned back into the seat as she spoke. "I had a lot of fun. Thanks for bringing me Seth."

I grinned. "Well it was your welcoming party. It would have been rude not to show up, don't you think?"

That earned me a giggle and a soft punch to the shoulder. "Wise guy."

"I try."

We laughed and joked all the way to Leah's house. Her face was pink from laughing so much and it made me smile harder. She enjoyed being around my family. That meant the world to me.

Too soon we pulled up to the driveway of Leah's house. The lights were still out, so Leah must still be down at the bonfire.

I walked her to the door where she thanked me. "I had a really wonderful time tonight. Your family is incredible."

"They were happy to have you." I assured her.

Her smile lit up her face. Her eyes were shining in the light of the porch and her teeth shown between her lips. She looked happy.

I couldn't help myself. I leaned in, my nose brushing against hers until my lips came down on her lips. She moaned a little; probably the most arousing sound I've ever heard. My hands came to her hips, my thumbs wrapping themselves around the loops in her jeans. She wound her arms around my neck and buried her hands in my short hair. Doing this brought her closer to me, her body molding against mine. I shivered and leaned even farther into the kiss. If this was what getting high was like then consider me a druggie.

She suddenly gasped and pushed me away. What normally would felt like a fly bumping into me felt like a hot iron prod poking my chest. "What?" I asked alarmed. "What happened?"

Scarlett shook her head. "I can't do this." She murmured. "I-I think you need to go."

Each of her words hit me like one of Paul's punches. "Did I do something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, no it's not you."

"Then what?" I moved closer, covering her hand with my larger ones. She didn't move away. "What's holding you back from being happy?"

"Nothing." She snapped, then softened. "Sorry, I just...I need to get some rest." She pulled her hand away from mine. "I'll see you tomorrow." She murmured before closing the door.

I ran my hands through my hair and growled in frustration. What the hell was I doing wrong?

I transformed and raced away from the house, unaware of the crying noises coming back from the house.

Scarlett groaned as she came down the stairs that morning. Her head was pounding and her eyes were heavy. She probably looked as bad as she felt, but she didn't care what she looked like so long as she found a cup of coffee strong enough.

Surprisingly she found Leah already downstairs. She was casually sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper with two cups of coffee already made.

"Morning." Leah didn't look up from her newspaper. "Yours is the one closest to the edge. It's black with one cream."

"It's kind of scary you know," Scarlett couldn't help but say after she downed most of her cup. "how you know how I take my coffee after only a week."

Leah shrugged, setting her paper aside. "I memorize things quicker than normal people." She suddenly grinned. "So tell me everything."

"About what?"

"About you and my brother kissing."

Scarlett barely managed to keep the coffee in her mouth. "W-What?"

Leah grinned and put down her newspaper. "I might have looked out of the window at the exact moment that you guys pulled in."

Scarlett blushed. "Spy." She accused.

Leah shrugged off the accusation. "I am. So is he a good kisser?" Leah froze and then shook her head. "Bad question."

Scarlett blushed harder as she squeaked out a little, "Yes."

Leah looked at Scarlett for a few seconds before throwing her head back and letting out the biggest laugh she's ever had. "Look, I know my brother can be a pain in the ass but he really likes you. He just wants you to be happy here, with him."

Scarlett's hands grew white as she gripped her mug tighter. "Leah, I'm afraid you don't understand. I get extremely claustrophobic when I stay in one place for too long. It's part of why being a magician suits me so well. I don't even know why I'm staying as long as I am."

Leah grew curious. "What was the longest time you've ever stayed in one place?"

Scarlett had to think hard. "Eleven months maybe? I'm not too sure. I've been moving around from place to place since I could remember."

"Army brat?"

Scarlett chuckled. "I almost wish. My parents both had well-paid jobs that required them to change work locations every two to twelve months. We mostly lived in high-end hotels and fancy condos that cost more than God. I ended up being home schooled most of the time because we couldn't stay in one place long enough to place me in a school."

"Then shouldn't you be ecstatic that someone wants you to stay in one place?"

"Would you leave the rez if it was really the only life you've ever known?" Scarlett countered. "Moving around became a way of life for me before I even knew how to walk. It's how I know how to survive."

"Haven't you ever wanted a change? Like, you meet a guy and suddenly your whole world revolves around him and you just can't leave?"

Scarlett suddenly laughed. "Why do I have a feeling that we aren't talking about some random guy more than we are talking about your brother?"

Leah had the decency to look sheepish. "A little."

"At least you haven't tied me to a chair yet."

Leah almost spit out her tea. "Are you serious?" The older girl roared with laughter.

Scarlett nodded. "Some amateur magician thought he could get the better of me on a date. I used his own trick against him, kicked his balls, and his voice hasn't stopped squeaking since." Scarlett suddenly went serious. "Listen Leah, I like your brother. He's a sweetheart and really nice, but I'm leaving in two weeks and I don't want to break his heart."

"Then stay. Don't do whatever you claim you need to do and stay."

"I can't do that. I still have several tour dates left. The next one is in Philadelphia, and then I leave for London two days after. I won't be back in the US for several months. Seth will just have to understand."

Leah paused for a minute. "Is your wanderlust really that bad?"

"It gets worse when I meet people. I form attachments and then I get nervous, twitchy. Then before I know it I'm on a plane to God knows where."

"We can help."

Scarlett shook her head. "I never said I minded."

"If it gets old then why do you still do it?"

"A protection mechanism, maybe? If I don't stick around long enough, no one can hurt me."

"We can help with that. In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of big on family and helping people and all that crap."

Scarlett grinned. "You use crap when referring to family?"

Leah didn't budge. "Seriously, we can help you. We can help you keep your wanderlust under control."

"But then what would I do? I don't have a college degree and I don't know how to do anything else but magic."

"Online classes?"

"Can't afford them. I barely make enough to support myself and my lifestyle. Besides, I can't imagine myself doing anything but being a magician."

Leah chuckled to herself. "Marry Seth and become a housewife. Problem solved." She laughed even harder at Scarlett's outrageous blush.

"Shut up." She grumbled as she sipped at her tea.